If you don't see fermentation start in 24 hours, stir/shake the heck out of it and wait another 24. If you haven't seen anything by then, the yeast was probably bad and I'd throw in some more. Also, be sure the place you have it fermenting is not too cold or too hot for the type of yeast you're using.

I used Safale us-05 Dry Ale Yeast (red pack from Marcellos). I decided not to go with the yeast that came with the kit and kevin said this was some good stuff. I rehydrated and activated it paying clost attition to the temp. (kept it under 90). I dont know what it should look like before I pitch. I mean it was cloudy with a few small bubbles in it. My wort was at 80 when I pitched. It is now 72 hrs and still no fermintation. The wort was still at 79 so I put the bucket in an ice bath, stired it up with a sanitized wine thief, checked the gravity (still the same). The yeast pack says it should be at 75 so here I go. Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks

edit: when i stirred it a lot of lighter colored wort came up, dont know but I figured it was yeast.

I used US-05 from Marcello's in my last batch. I aerated the wort and pitched the yeast, and the fermentation was up and running in 2 hours. I guess it's possible that the yeast is bad. I'd definitely try repitching a package of US-05. 72 hours without any sign of fermentation....it's definitely time to worry!
Did you happen to aerate the wort before you pitched the yeast? I've found that every time I've had a long lag time in the past, I didn't aerate the wort. Since I've started routinely doing it, I've been getting much lower lag times, and all around better fermentation.

Yea, 72 hours is too long, pitch in another pack of yeast - the one that came with the kit if you have nothing else. I personally never aerate (unless you want to count the drop from the pot to the bottom of the primary carboy as aeration, and I've never had fermentation take more than 12 hours to start, until this weekend, when it took 24 hours.
I used liquid yeast for the first time this weekend, didn't make a starter, but I did like I always do with dry yeast... take some wort out of the pot, let it cool, then put the yeast in that. I usually see yeast activity (a head) by the time I'm ready to pitch with dry yeast, but nothing this time with the liquid - I don't know if that's normal? Is there a lower yeast cell count in a vial of liquid vs. a package of dry? It may have just been that I mail ordered the yeast and it was rather warm when it arrived, despite the icepacks that were supposed to keep it cool, so some of the little buggers may have died off.
Or it could have been the 1.088 gravity causing the lag...

I am really not sure what happened, I usually have full fermentation in 5 or so hours. I pitch cold usually 5 deg under fermentation temp. I aerate my wort with a wine degasser, add my yeast and stir till it looks like a milk shake. You should have plenty of yeast with dry yeast. Your pitching temp could of been to high or you did not aerate enough. Maybe try to come over when Yeastmeister or i brew and see how we brew.

something is definitely wrong. safale 05 has always given me good results fast. The only thing I can think of is that you somehow got chlorine in your wort. Did you use bleach to sanitize your equipment? or use straight tap water without boiling?

Alright, just pitched more yeast. If this batch is drinkable it will be a miracle! I read on HomeBrewTalk.com to let it sit for 72 hours before doing anything. I thought that sounded like a long time. Lesson learned, time to get some different sanitizer. Would I have been able to tell if it was infected (smell, look)?
This is my second brew and I am very interested in learning more about it. If anyone wouldnt mind showing a rookey a thing or two I would love to watch/help on a brew day. I saw that they might have a club brew coming up but if someone is doing it up before then let me know.
Thanks for the advice.

aleguy wrote:............try using a no-rinse sanitizer such as iodaphor or star san next time.

I have to agree with this. I picked up some star san from marcello's about 6 months ago. This stuff sure has made my brewing life a lot easier! Its so much easier to use than what I was using previously (bleach), that there really can be no comparison.

I'm probably not going to be doing any brewing for the next coupla months, though I'm sure some of the club members can help you out with that. I do, however, have a GREAT book that I can loan to you, that has a ton of good information in it. The book is Dave Miller's Homebrewing Guide....Everything you need to know to make great-tasting beer.
If you're interested, just drop me a PM. I'll find a way to get it to you.

This website is the ONLY one that I frequent, besides this one. A lot of help can be found there, for the asking.

And as always, Kevin (at Marcello's) is a handy source for brewing information.

As for the brew, there's every reason to expect that it will turn out fine. I've heard of a great many folks who start a brew with the exact same problem as you, who end up with a good beer. As long as your sanitation practices were up to snuff, you'll probably be fine. Just remember to keep your fermentation vessel cool (mid to high 60's preferrably...though a little higher than that should be fine too).

You can brew with Igor, always a good bet to learn something or other. If your beer was infected, you would probably smell something sour when you opened it up.
If it did get infected, it can usually still be salvaged if you age it long enough. usually a year or three.